#like with characters who have specific pronouns in canon but that we're now making trans and changing those

[antirepurp]

Transfem Shadow doesn't change her looks to conform to conventional gender standards because she doesn't conform and doesn't do conventional.

Sonic had spent years on HRT, did voice training and had top surgery to be his best self.

Shadow slapped on eyeliner and curled her lashes before walking out the door because you can't improve perfection, and she knows it.

yess i also love the contrast those approaches add to the characters, with how generally carefree sonic typically appears whereas shadow gives off a more well-kept vibe (see: every shadow idle animation where they comb their quills), and the idea that sonic would take their transition process very seriously and go through a lot of changes while shadow doesn't bother with anything beyond a bit more eyeliner is Very Good and i also like that it would showcase vastly different but equally valid approaches to gender and transitioning

[arklayraven]

I can't sleep rn while this annoyed/pissed off. So time to remind people OM is canonly a queer game as hell and to tell the queerphobes and transphobes to FUCK OFF. (Seriously, why are you following me if you hate queer and trans people/characters? Get out of here.)

This is a official post by OM devs over the creation of OM and their MC. Read the left section well.

"OM isn't a queer game" many like to say.

The game, writers and characters beg to differ.

From someone kind who felt they knew all about the game and characters well, even tho they played it themselves.

Let's go back to that official post by Solmare about OM and this section specifically.

Hope you read that well, and the person(and many who think/believe this) learns how damn wrong they are.

Also...God don't bring up my Asmo and act like you know all about him. Another thing from that kind person.

Firstly, canonly none of the characters have set labels. But they are all in fact canonly queer. Whether you like to believe/accept this or not. It's fact, was fact from day one.

Asmodeus is the most openly proud queer boy in the series, and gender nonconforming too at that, even if he uses only he/him pronouns(but he's been shown to be fine being called princess, queen, etc. So he's clearly open to all gendered/less pronouns/labels I feel).

He drips of gender fluidity, and going against gender presentation norms(Babe has presented so fem and nonconforming for awhile now. Learn to look at him and appreciate him better). So take note of all of that, and never say again he's not queer, because that's a damn fucking lie.

Also I hate how bi is used as default for queerness as a whole for characters who are interested in more than one gender, and wish for the day people stop using it as so. (Use MSPEC or just queer if you wish to sound more inclusive of all possible labels/identities for a canon queer character with no canon label set.)

Second, back to what I said before, ALL THE CHARACTERS IN OM ARE QUEER. If you ship your MC or yourself with them, know that's a canon queer character you're pairing them/yourself up with. And you can't erase their queerness and identity. Especially if it makes you personally feel bothered or crap.

And before you say anything, dating them, as a straight woman, doesn't automatically make them straight now too. They are still queer, but are dating you, who happen to be a straight woman. (stop being damn queerphobic challenge.)

I'm already tired of this crap, so gonna end this now and fast.

OM is a canon queer game, and was made with a MC who is genderless to be inclusive of ALL PLAYERS. This opened the door quickly for men, nonbinary, etc players to enjoy the game too, and be part of the fandom as well. There's as much men and nonbinary players in the series like women are, but only difference is in the fandom mainly. Many people choose to see which fans or MCs are more accepted in the community, and which ones to show more love/attention too.

If you tried to expand your horizons more, you will surely quickly find people who identify as men, nonbinary, etc in the fandom as well. And learn how we're here, always been here, just greatly drowned out or ignored by a vast majority of people just because of who we are. (Lots of people with dislike for MCs who are men, or just plain damn queerphobia and transphobia in the works.)

The more people try to ignore the clear fact men and nonbinary people play OM too. The more easier it is for them say OM and its characters aren't canonly queer, and they can feel special/happy about playing the game. That they want to believe was just made to cater to women only. But in reality it was made to be catered to all players, no matter their gender identity or lack of, and same for romantic/sexual attraction.

Also another thing I forgot to add to put more facts that OM is a queer game to be inclusive of ALL PLAYERS.

Already, the undateables from day one are canonly queer too. If you need to be reminded and stated that as well.

That's pretty much it on this annoying tiring topic.

Enjoy playing OM, the canonly queer game made for ALL PLAYERS. <3

[gilded-gheists]

I think someone needs to say it.

The JRWI fandom as a whole has a lot of issues with gender roles the expression of ones self. More specifically towards the guys with longer hair. Which is what I'm talking about the most. Characters that are the core example of this are characters like Gillian, Kian and Ashe. The latter two moreso. Both of these characters are canonically cis men with long hair, yet both are consistently headcanonned as transfem. And whilst I literally headcanon Ashe with he/she pronouns (prefferring he mostly though) I really want to make a point of what I'm going to say.

And I'm making a point of saying this now that: I don't have any fucking issues with transfem headcanons. In fact, there's several that I have and several that I see that I adore. Mostly they're outside of this fandom, both are examples of story and for fun:

Hunter from the Owl House is one. It adds so much to the character when you add breaking free and seperation from the control of your abusers, self expression that they can show once free of their uncle. It drives a really nice narrative which works so beautifully for their character. Transfem Hunter is an interesting thing to look into, especially with the issues they have with having longer hair but how having longer hair is always percived as something a girl has. It works so well as a narrative and could be such an interesting thing writers and artists alike can look into.

Another is my one that is literally just for fun. It's Scott Pilgram. It's purely from a piece of fanart I saw that derrives from the 'im in lesbians with you' line said in the comics and film and it's such an interesting take as well. Even though it's one that's just for a silly, I can imagine so many in-depth takes and conflict that could happen in Scott's mind because of this and who they are as a person. As well as the tale told in the film being one of self acceptance and the baggage that carries through in relationship.

Now my massive reasoning for why I'm not against transfems as a whole and people shouldn't butcher me and call me transphobic (because yeah, transphobic trans people exist-) is out of the way, I can get to what I actually want to say:

All the time I see folks headcanoning these canonically beautiful boys as transfem. And whilst that's cool and all, I feel like we should actually look at why we're headcanoning these characters with long hair this way. It feels like it's almost enforcing typical gender roles, that pretty boys with long hair are women. And that's just not the case.

It's gotten to the point that people outside of the fandom think and even sometimes go into PD thinking Ashe is canonically a girl. And whilst yes, popular headcanons exist in all fandoms (see Tubbo with horns in the DSMP fandom) that they leak into the mainstream, it's gotten to the point of where I'm starting to think peoples brains really do just link: boy with long hair = girl all the time. All the time I see people basically going 'boy + long hair = you're a girl now' pretty much and the ammount of just dysphoria that gives me as someone who wants to dress more feminine and grow out his hair long after he starts T is driving me insane.

It enforces a lot of particular gender roles when you're deciding that anyone with long hair is a woman. that they're girly. That they're just that. A girl. And I've seen ages ago (when I was much younger so I don't remember the fandoms) people do the same with women with short hair. Women who are buff and strong and don't have traditionally 'girly' frames. Just instantly making them men. It's kinda fucked but a lot of people don't think the same when It's about men, do they?

You never see extremely masc presenting characters headcanonnoned this way.

Never Rolan Deep, who you could say having this hidden 'monster' inside of him is an analogy for being in the closet, about sexuality or even gender. About not knowing a part of yourself and then seeing others 'express' themselves (murder and maim and kill) in a way that makes you realise something about yourself that you're not who you thought you were in life. That you've been repressing this part of you, that you've discovered this part of you, that feels so weird and foreign that even now you decide to try and push it down, to pretend to be yourself.

Not Ryan, and his very heavy masculinity, how he engages in frat culture and how that can effect a someone's psyche. And how he plays sports and is very traditionally a 'boy'

And you don't see people headcanoning Mark fucking Winters as Transfem. A large, muscularly built person with facial hair.

It's always the folks who are more lithe, lanky, skinny canonically. Always the people who have long hair and are just pretty. Always them.

And I'm just wondering why?

This post isn't anything to start discourse. It isn't asking for you to 'fight back' against what I said with even more content of this sort of stuff. It's just asking for you to stop and think for a second. As to why it's always these pretty boys with long hair that you're thinking are femminine. That's all.

I think my desire to talk about this has been sparked a little more with someone using she/her pronouns for Sylnan in the jrwi-kiss bracket. Sylnan's very masc in apperance, although has long hair like my point, so it did make me curious about that person's headcanons and why they think that. There's another person on ao3 who headcanons Rand as using she/he pronouns and whilst that's not my cup of tea I still am a little curious as to why, as a lot of this fandom does just present very 'femme' or pretty looking guys as transfem.

And I'm welcome to other people's opinions on the matter. I'm welcome to open discussion. I will say though that I find it very hard to disscern tone over text with people I don't know well and that I'd appriciate if you state things such as the fact that you don't mean it argumentativly and such if that is the case. That we're talking civally. I've been attacked a lot over minor things in past fandoms, hell, I even got called racist randomly in THIS fandom for just mentioning colour theory in art styles and how colour picking source art for skintone might not work for your art style. Which, when you think about it, is moreso calling Wyvern racist, if anything. So please just make sure you mention your tone or even use indicators or brackets.

Also going to say: when talking about characters on this post, if you usually headcanon them as she/her or using she/her pronouns, if it's in the context of your headcanon and we're not talking about the canon character seperately (as fanon an canon are completely seperate), I'd appriciate if you use they/them for the characters. I will follow in suit when talking about fandom interations of characters as well. As I have done litearlly throughout this post. It's moreso out of respect for eachother and our personal headcanons, if anything.

[nazuna-tunnel-vision]

hello this is the same anon!! this won't be nearly as long as my first ask LOL i just wanted to respond to some stuff in your reply!! i genuinely rly enjoy this kind of conversation and being able to have it in a respectful and nuanced way is very fun and enjoyable

your guess on my probable reaction to people he/him-ing characters i use she/her for is essentially correct! it's mostly for characters like ibara or mayoi where i refer to them with she/her pronouns basically all of the time. there's a bit of initial disorientation due to it taking me an extra moment to process who the pronouns are in referral to, but once that passes i'm usually able to just,, accept it and move on. it probably also helps that i write fic and tend to adhere a bit more to what's considered canon regarding pronouns when i do those; so while she/her ARE the pronoun set i prefer to use when referring to ibara or mayoi, i have and will probably continue to write fic where i use he/him. in that specific case it's because i want to make the fic more legible for people that might not share those headcanons with me (which isn't to say that i won't write fic where i do otherwise! just that i'm open to using different pronouns to better fit different contexts in which the character is being presented/discussed).

for a lot of other characters i also tend to have unfixed/multiple interpretations of what their gender might be or how i view it, which means i don't necessarily experience any gender/pronoun disorientation because they already exist in multiple ways in my head. (ie. i'm a big fan of they/them nagisa, but i usually refer to nagisa with he/him in fics/tumblr posts and also won't flinch at someone using she/her pronouns because they/them agender nagisa isn't the only version of nagisa's gender that exists in my head. i hope that makes sense i realize it might be a bit strange)

and, to be honest, i won't claim there aren't characters where i do have that same sort of discomfort to she/her pronouns - natsume and mao are big ones, since i so heavily relate to and headcanon those characters as transmasc that it weirdly feels more personal to see them be gendered differently. i think for myself, though, i can recognize that this person's interpretation of the character is just different from my own and there's nothing inherently wrong with either, just that it's not to my tastes for the reasons i have. and then i move on

i don't know if there's really a best answer to any of this discourse particularly since most (i'd argue maybe close to all?) trans headcanons do, as you say, stem from enthusiasm for the character and usually some level of personal engagement with gender/expression. that makes it a lot more personal and less clear-cut than if it were something else, yknow? it's good to have these discussions tho and this one's been really respectful and whatnot. hope ur having a good day and thank u again for reading my ask/responding so respectfully !

thank you again for the reply anon!!

it's pretty reassuring to know that you also feel that disorientation. like oh maybe it really is just a normal reaction phew, phew.

what you said about characters like nagisa is pretty interesting too. maybe the secret to get whacked in the face less is to already have different gender interpretations of the characters pre-loaded in your head?? 🤔 then when you see a certain pronoun you can just go "ohh we're doing he/him nagisa now? okay" then you pluck out your they/them nagisa lens and put the he/him nagisa lens on. or flick the switch to change to the he/him nagisa setting in your head.

that would certainly explain why i experience so much of the disorientation, because my she/her lens of most characters simply doesn't even exist at all, so i can't switch to them. it's hard to be immediately accepting of new interpretations when you never even thought of them to begin with. plus, pronouns don't really come pre-loaded with backstory to ease you into the character setting.

that said, pre-loading all these interpretations would take a lot of time and effort so it'll be impossible to apply this to the like. 50+ characters in the cast. but it does sound like something i can act on on my part to ease the discomfort i feel.

thank you again for the respectful discussion!! i really appreciate how you took the time to explain your perspective and replied my questions in good faith. i hope you have a good day too!

[danganfan42069]

Now it's time for me to give my opinion on what I disagree with. I will use she/her for Chihiro since I hc her as transfem.

"If you are not transfem keep put of discussion!"

While I agree about the place of speech, I think it's overkill not being able to have a healthy debate when the topic is about headcanons of a game, that's not serious activism.

"Coming out to someone you trust, only to be met with shock and violence"

I see where this is coming from but the way the phrase was placed over the violence part makes it seem like Mondo didn't have huge angry issues and that was never established (he had already tried to beat up Monokuma and Byakuya and knocked out Makoto). Mondo's tantrum was not because of Chihiro's secret itself, but because she is strong and brave enough to speak her secret and Mondo was hurt by it. And he wasn't well either because of his own secret about his brother!

"Being misgendered after death"

The thing is, the characters actually respected Chihiro's pronouns. Canon Chihiro was a cis boy in the closet. It's not like she said something like "I'm a man but I feel like a woman" or anything like that. She wants to overcome her "weaknesses" (aka femininity).

This is indeed a very real fear for trans people, but it wasn't exactly the case for her. I think Chihiro's gender was totally poorly written but it's not the characters' fault, it's the writers.

"You absolute can't hc Chihiro as transmasc"

Policing other people's hc is no fun.

I know she was written as a transmisogynistic trope, but at the end of the day Chihiro was written as a cis boy in the closet, that's the actual canon.

And again, this is just headcanons of a game, that's not serious activism.

I also think this is a little hypocritical because at the end of the carrd it was written "This carrd is not meant to try and change minds; it's simply meant to educate and to let things be seen thought a different perspective (...) All I ask of you is to try and understand people perspective and be kind" while trying to police which hcs are valid or not.

"Transmisogynistic slurs were used against her"

At least in the official English version of the game they only refer to Chihiro as crossdresser, guy, dude and man. None of these words are slurs.

In the dubbed anime, a sign that Monokuma was holding as "trap" was translated (I don't know Japanese so I can't say if the Japanese word is also problematic or just the translation). Not that it makes it any less worse but they only used that term once in the anime.

I can't tell if the Japanese version actually spoke any slur, and fan translations don't count.

"Q: I'm all for trans hcs but i can't accept trans Chihiro / A: Then you are not for trans hcs¹ If this single perception of character makes you so mad to the point where you stop supporting trans people + trans headcanons, then maybe you were never a ally²"

¹ Or maybe the person just doesn't like this specific trans hc with this character and that's ok! Their opinion is valid and deserves to be respected as well as those who disagree with them.

² While I agree with that sentence alone, I don't agree with the context of the question. the person just said they doesn't agree with the hc of transfem Chihiro. They didn't say they're now against the trans community just because of that or anything like that.

"Her wishes in life on how to refer to her are utterly ignored, and we're all told that this is how things actually are (...) Nobody says maybe we should respect Chihiro's wishes while she was alive" (the article)

Again, Chihiro is canonically a closet cis boy. This was her wish:

Saving this carrd and this article about transfem Chihiro in case any of them are deleted in the future

Despite loving transfem Chihiro and having this headcanon, there are some things that I disagree with both in the article and in the carrd. I think I'll reblog giving my opinion on what I disagree with later

[black-arms-hivemind]

This is a threat, send me all your Darms lore from canon and TEoS (and send pics so I can look at they)

Okay okay so!!!

Canonically they don't have official genders or sexes, I don't think they're ever referred to with any gender related pronouns, but in my lore they're all AMAB, but every single one of them except for Blurk turned out to Not Be Cis, with Cyzer being non-binary while Cregal and Rhygenta are trans girls.

They're wisps that were genetically modified with Black Arms DNA by Eclipse when they were still in their eggs - there were originally a lot more of them, as shown in Shadow Fall, but when Eclipse’s escape pod crashed on Angel Island, a lot of them sadly didn't make it, leaving just the four we know and love.

This is the first time we see them fully revealed in the comic. Did you know that I used to constantly get Cyzer and Cregal mixed up? The two are rather similar and have a shared character trope of "siblings that fight", so let me say that Cyzer is the cyan one, amd Cregal is the red one.

Each of their names are a combo of two different words that describe them in each way, one word being their color, while the other one is just something that's relevant to that Darm specifically in some way

Cyzer (I pronounce it "Ky-zer", yes even tho Cyan has a soft C) = Cyan + Lazer (their ability)

Cregal (I pronounce it "Kre-gul") = Crimson + Eagle (a reference to her ability - which is to give whoever uses them wings to fly with)

Rhygenta (I pronounce it "Re-jen-tah") = Magenta + Rhythm (She's special in the fact that "Magenta" ALSO refers to the type of wisp she is/was originally, and also while in a meta sense, "Rhythm" is a reference to it's ability, since Eclipse didn't know Rhy's ability at the time, it's probably story-wise referencing how they resemble a eighth note in shape)

Blurk (i pronounce it "Bl-urk", that one's a given) = Blue + Lurk (I'm not actually sure how this one relates to him? I figure Eclipse just picked a word that sounded cool for that one. Blurk's ability is to make the person who uses him invincible for a brief amount of time)

Admittedly, Blurk, Cyzer and Cregal in canon are just kinda There. Like yes, they're cute, amd are great companions and "minions" for Eclipse, but they don't have a ton of character beyond a few traits. Cregal and Cyzer are messy, they fight, and give off a vibe of general cockiness, and Blurk is also messy (even more so), grumpy amd one can infer from him apparently needing to be reminded to chew his food - impatient.

Rhygenta on the other hand, has more going on. This first apparence of her and her siblings already sets the tone for the whole ass character arc she gets throughout the Total Eclipse storyline. Eclipse says that while she is well behaved, they don't seem to have any powers.

Rhy's arc is very much a side-plot thing, but there's enough there that it's pretty easy to see why it's the fan favorite among her and her siblings.

We don't see them again until the next issue of the arc, as Eclipse has gone out on their own to hopefully get food, and maybe try again to convert Shadow who knows-

But, ignoring the source pronouns used for Eclipse, here is when the Dark Arms first fully realize the situation they're in, and immediately get an antagonistic view of Team Dark & Friends, obviously pretty pissed off/concerned that these strange people want to harm their caretaker. But for now they're left to let these feelings fester while Eclipse is out fighting.

Take note of each expression in the second panel- Blurk, Cyzer and Cregal are visibly angry, ready to fight, while Rhygenta is scared and worried. Though no words are used to convey it, this is another building block of Rhy's arc.

Once again we're made to wait until the next issue to see these four again, but when we do see them once more - Eclipse has returned to them, amd they make their yearning to join Eclipse in their fight against the heroes known, with Cregal once again being the first one to speak - what a talkative gal! Eclipse is doubtful, not wanting them to get hurt, but agrees to it, which excites them - and probably the reader too, as we're about to get a lot more Darms action!

In a confrontation with Rouge, Relic, Omega and Fixit (Oh. And Julian too. He's our fucker to hate this arc since Death is dead), Eclipse uses a variety of Dark Arms abilities to render them unable to stop them as they take the Master Emerald. Take note of how everyone gets to show off their power - except for Rhygenta. Again, a non-verbal (or non-dialouge-bal?) detail to further along her arc. A lot of her arc is like that, and I find it pretty unique! It's a subtle little B-plot that you more pick up on re-reads rather than your first time through.

Since this post is getting rather long, let me skip to the end of the arc, when the climax of Rhy's arc happens

In the midst of trouble, Eclipse once again calls upon all the Dark Arms, except for Rhygenta. Blurk, Cyzer and Cregal quickly become tired and unable to fight, amd all hope seems lost - until Rhy steps in and reveals that, despite what Eclipse had thought, she is in fact the strongest of all the Dark Arms, blasting Knuckles and Shadow away with a Sonic Boom, giving Eclipse and the others enough time to escape out of the situation alive and well.

That's all for canon lore, and also for the images, as I've reached Tumblr's image limit 😔

BUT

The Era of Shadow is essentially a sequel to this arc, taking place a few years later.

The Dark Arms, while still being kids obviously, have grown a good bit, taking the initiative to learn Hi-Bloosiæne (Blarms language) & English in order to communicate with more of their brethren than just Eclipse. Rhygenta in particular has taken an interest in genetic engineering just like Eclipse, and after doing a ton of research on it's own and with Eclipse, created her and their siblings darkling bodies to inhabit and pilot in order to both feel closer to Eclipse and the other Black Arms once they meet them, and to better be able to present their gender identities. These bodies are able to shapeshift just like regular Blarms, and basically work like bio-mech suits.

While Rhygenta is obviously the most book-smart of the four, none of them are necessarily dumb, and work together with Eclipse and each other very well.

But yeah, that's all really. Might reblog this w/ the darkling suits if I get around to drawing them

[walks-the-ages]

(as a premise to my thinking) For me, the biggest gripe I've always had with "gender bend" fics and episodes is when someone get magically swapped to a new """opposite gender"""" body, their pronouns are immediately changed in the narrative and their gender identity is quickly swapped after a token protest until the person now views themselves as a cis woman (90% of genderbending things I've seen make male characters into women).

Before i even knew I was nonbinary, i was always confused by this premise, and the sheer number of people who wrote it completely uncritically and without question, that getting your physical body changed against your will would suddenly mean that your entire sense of self and gender would *automatic * change to match.

(At one point, i was planning a stargate sg1 fic that had the team get genderswapped, but they would all continue using their original pronouns and deal with the fallout of that in 90's US military)

Anyways. Back to Thirteen. Specifically, The Doctor. The Doctor who has always been a man his entire life (we're ignoring Timeless Child + Fugitive reveal for now, talking about Doctors 1-12).

The Doctor has spent hundreds and thousands of years being a man and identifying as a man and using he/him pronouns.*

(*In the show at least-- the Eighth Doctor is canonically nonbinary in the EDAs and also maybe at least some of the audios, I'm not caught up on anything post Charley Pollard)

The Doctor, regenerating and suddenly having a "female" body should not automatically mean that the Doctor is now a woman and uses she/her pronouns.

Becoming a woman was not a choice the Doctor made, it was something forced on them by the random lottery of regeneration, and I was extremely disappointed that the show never, ever gave Thirteen a moment of proper introspection about what has changed and whether they accept, enjoy, and internalize that change.

To me, for Thirteen to be (canonically) trans in any flavor, there would have to be an actual emotional journey attached to the change brought on by regeneration.

Either the Doctor, who has identified as male and used he/him pronouns for 99% of their life suddenly finds themselves with a body that is perceived as female, and having people use she/her pronouns for them and:

1) experiences gender euphoria and fully embraces being a woman, experimenting with different outfits and hair styles and social interactions throughout the season

2) Is confused/uncomfortable with being perceived as a different gender and slowly (re)gains the self confidence and self knowledge to decide to go by he/him pronouns because your body's appearance should not dictate your gender* . just like with his name, his appearance can change with regenerations, but he is still the Doctor.

(*and medically transitioning or being able to pass is not a requirement of being trans, which many trans people feel gatekept from identifying as such, because they can't afford or can't safely medically OR socially transition and thus view themselves as "not trans enough" or "fakers". I mention this because I have personally seen dozens of older trans people feel like they are "not really trans" because they are in their 70s and don't feel safe enough to even socially transition or even talk about their identity online outside of this one anonymous comment on a post. To me, seeing an actress play a character that uses he/him pronouns casually, without trying to "pass" as a man is just as important as casting and hiring trans and nonbinary actors to portray trans and nonbinary characters.)

3) Or, the Doctor, being perceived as a woman after being a man 99% of their life, slowly realizes they are in fact, nonbinary in a similar manner as the above, that their physical body changing does not mean their identity and gender have to change to match it, that the perceptions of others based on their physical body's appearance should not dictate how they see themselves.

The Thirteenth Doctor as a trans woman is a really powerful symbol in fandom, but I cannot ignore how this was not a choice the Doctor made, it was a choice forced on them by the Regeneration, and it is never properly questioned or explored on screen, and we're just supposed to accept that a Time Lord will always be "acceptably cis" by automatically changing their gender based on the physical body they've regenerated into, as opposed to keeping their gender identity consistent across lives regardless of how their physical body is perceived by others.

....

Sorry for the long post but I've given this a lot of thought and there were so many ways it could have played out , in the three minimum paths I laid out above, but instead we got exactly none of them and the Doctor just accepts without question that their new body dictates their gender despite hundreds of years (or thousands. Or millions, depending on who you ask) years of life happily being a cis man.

(Again, excluding Eight from this because most people barely know he exists, let alone that he is nonbinary in multiple expanded media (as far as I've listened he still uses he/him pronouns, I have not read the EDAs yet so if he uses they/them pronouns at any point I'll try to remember to add that in a reblog at some point in the future when i get around to reading the 73 eda books lol)

also all the "gags" by Chibnall where the assumed punch line was misogynystic and then instead was random nonsequeter to show how progressive he was just grated on my nerves.

Like in episode 1, the Doctor's like "oh, running around is so hard right now!" *gestures at chest* "I think it's because I've got all this extra...." (Pause to make you dread misogynistic joke) "Fizzing!"

*insert face palm emoji here*

oh and as the last thing, I really enjoyed the implied story arc for the future Doctor mentioned in passing in the Rose (2018) novelization, that implied the Doctor would slowly realize they were nonbinary a few regenerations down the line with the documented appearances by future Doctor's including Thirteen collected by Clive, but Rose is too distracted by looking at the pictures of Nine (the Doctor she just met for the first time) to pay attention to what he's saying

Tl;dr: my biggest issue with the Thirteenth Doctor's gender is there was zero questioning of it by the character in any really meaningful way that lead to any kind of gender identity conclusion. A Time Lord regenerating into a new body should not make their gender identity automatically change to match , and if The Doctor actually, genuinely enjoys being a woman it should have been explored more, because becoming a woman was not a choice the Doctor made, it was Random Regeneration Lottery.

I have many issues with chibnall era doctor who (and these are long and varied and would probably take more than just one post to discuss and better people than me have already made those posts) but if there is one thing that I am currently really angry about, it is the fact that for the first time in 55 years we saw the doctor played by an actor of a different gender and we got to see this transformation play out on screen, and knowing how each doctor kind of goes through an arc of figuring out their new identity in their new body, this COULD have been a fantastic allegory for being trans and what that means to others about the person you were before transitioning vs. the person you are now, and for maybe one scene in 13's first episode it kinda felt like we would get an exploration into that character arc this season.

but then all that we really get from the rest of that season and the next two that chibnall wrote is a bunch of funny gags where the doctor gets her own gender and pronouns confused and experiences misogyny because she's a Woman now and we never really get any deeper than just jokes about how the doctor is now externally presenting as a woman with no real commentary about how it affects her own internal feelings